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Topic: PT 161s 1st Skipper |
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victorkchun
New Member
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Posted on: Jan 31, 2016 - 8:00am
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Great story. A salute to all PT vets.
Victor
Victor K Chun |
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TheBridge
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jan 31, 2016 - 8:05am
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Hi Jeff,
A great find! You'll see McElroy's name listed on many of the missions in the MTB Daily Reports in the back half of 'FIRST-UP: Chronicles of the PT-157' book. Skipper Liebenow of he 157 mentioned him a number of times in conversations over the past 8 years.
I sent the link to Bud Liebenow. I'm sure he get a kick out of it, especially the group photos that include himself. Bud lost a lot of his personal PT materials and memorabilia some years ago when his house was destroyed by a hurricane. If he is missing some of these I hunt down the author of this article and see fi we can get some fresh copies to Bud ASAP.
Bridge
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Jeff D
Moderator
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Posted on: Jan 31, 2016 - 8:15am
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Cool Bridge, sorry to hear Bud lost so much in the hurricane...
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CJ Willis
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jan 31, 2016 - 9:32am
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Jeff: Thanks for posting this story. Very interesting reading. Mr. McElroy's encounter with Jap barges and Jap float planes brings back memories we will never forget,
C. J. Willis |
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Jeff D
Moderator
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Posted on: Jan 31, 2016 - 4:01pm
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I'm glad you enjoyed it too C. J.. Mr. McElroy was a fine writer.
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TheBridge
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Feb 4, 2016 - 6:41pm
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Great recap of McElroy and his PT service! Let us treasure that.
There is one historical glitch. Per Skipper Liebenow, of the PT 157, and the MTB Daily Log reports of the night's missions, the 161 was not involved in the rescue of the 109 crew. See the MTB Report (2 pages) below.
Bridge Carney
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TheBridge
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Feb 5, 2016 - 7:48am
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A second historical correction to Skipper McElroy's memory of events. The mission Skipper McElroy recounts in his memoir...
One night we were ordered, along with the 157 boat, to escort three landing craft full of Marines around the north side of New Georgia Island. At our rendezvous, the skipper of the lead landing craft and the ranking Marine officer wanted to know how two PT boats were going to defend them, especially against enemy aircraft. We told them we didn’t have a set plan in mind but, if something came up, we would handle it.
During the middle of the night, the attack came. A group of Japanese planes spotted us. We decided that the only course of action was to invite the planes to attack the PTs and draw them away from the Marines. .....
...It was an extraordinary, heroic, creative and, most importantly, effective response to an enemy attack. It happened on the night of August 15-16, 1943. However it did not include the PT-161. It was two PTs yes; the 157, with Skipper William 'Bud' Liebenow, and 154 with Skipper Hamlin Dunlap Smith! It was for this mission, in part, that Skipper Liebenow was awarded the Silver Star and Skipper Smith was given a Commendation.
Note: Further details are available in the book FIRST-UP: Chronicles of the PT 157. This is not to sell the book but to let you, the reader, know, there is additional documentation of this event available.]
Bridge Carney
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Will Day
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Feb 5, 2016 - 9:53pm
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Thanks, Bridge....
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Nathaniel Smith
MASTER
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Posted on: Feb 6, 2016 - 8:59am
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I'd like to support the great research Bridge has done about PT-157.
Lt. John McElroy was a friend of my father (Lt. Hamlin Smith) and they shared good times and many adventures together in the Solomons. I have a lot of documents and interviews to confirm that PT-154 under the command of skipper Lt.(jg) Hamlin Smith accompanied Lt.(jg) Liebenow on the escort mission of 15-16 August 1943. For this he earned a Commendation Medal.
In doing my research into the history of PT-154 ... I heard my father tell a few stories that ended up being true ... but happened to someone else in the Squadron. I have never been in combat and I have a great deal of respect for any one who has. I am very willing to appreciate when a combat vet deals with his experience by combining stories for their children and grandchildren. These stories let the 2nd generation know a little bit about of what their combat life was like and I thank the vet for their sharing. Over and over I heard pt vets say ... they were not heroes ... they were just doing their job. I am glad when they tell us what it was like so we can appreciate what they experienced.
natsmith |
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